Jam cleat

ABSTRACT

A jam cleat for use on sailboats and the like has a base adapted to be secured to a desired support surface. The base has an upper surface and a side wall perpendicular to the upper surface. A line-engaging member is mounted adjacent the base side wall and is pivotable in a first plane parallel to the base upper surface as well as in a second plane normal to the first plane. The relationship is such that as the axial load on a line loaded into the cleat between the line-engaging member and the adjacent side wall is increased, the line-engaging member is correspondingly pivoted in the first plane to jam the line in the cleat, whereas the line-engaging member is pivoted in the second plane when the line is removed from the cleat.

United States Patent [151 3,677,214 1 July 18, 1972 Bernstein ['54] JAMCLEAT [72] Inventor: Robert .I. Bernsteln, 764 Judson, Highland Park,111. 60035 [22] Filed: Dec. 4, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 95,049

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.22,750, March 26,

- 1970, abandoned.

{52] U.S. Cl. ..ll4/218, 24/132 R [51] Int. Cl ..B63b 21/04 [58] FieldofSearch ..ll4/218;24/132 R, 132 CL, 24/132 VA, 132 AA, 132 AT, 255,257; 188/651, 65.2

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,736,290 11/1929 Schifi..24/l32 991,486 5/1911 Davis Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler AssistantExaminer-Gregory W. OConnor [57] ABSTRACT A jam cleat for use onsailboats and the like has a base adapted to be secured to a desiredsupport surface. The base has an upper surface and a side wallperpendicular to the upper surface. A line-engaging member is mountedadjacent the base side wall and is pivotable in a first plane parallelto the base upper surface as well as in a second plane normal to thefirst plane. The relationship is such that as the axial load on a lineloaded into the cleat between the line-engaging member and the adjacentside wall is increased, the line-engaging member is correspondinglypivoted in the first plane to jam the line in the cleat, whereas theline-engaging member is pivoted in the second plane when the line isremoved from the cleat.

6Clalns,5Drawingl igures Patented July 18, 1972 3,677,214

INVENTOR. fioaseru. BFPA/JT'W JAM CLEAT CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATEDAPPLICATION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Thisinvention relates to line snubbing devices, and more specifically, tojam cleats for use on sailboats, for example.

2. Description of the Prior Art Line snubbing devices adapted forcontrolling the sheet of the mainsail or other sails of a sailboat arecommonly referred to as jam cleats. As used herein, a sheet is definedas a line that regulates the angle at which a sail is set in relation tothe wind. It will be understood, however, that sheets are not the onlylines on a sailboat with which jam cleats may be used. Also, the presentjam cleat may be used in applications different from sailboats.

A common type of jam cleat is shown in FIG. 2 of U. S. Pat. No.3,046,929 issued to A. Piver on July 31, 1962. Such jam cleat contains apair of juxtaposed pivotable cam members mounted on a base member. Apassage is defined between the cam members for receipt therein of aportion of the length of a sheet or other line to be secured. The cammembers normally are spaced apart, at their closest adjacent points, adistance less than the diameter of a desired sheet, so that a sheet maybe wedged between the cam members. Application of a force on a sheetdisposed between the cam members, in the direction toward which thesheet is to be held from movement, tends to pull the cam members towardeach other about their pivot points. Thus, the application of such forcecauses the cam members to grip the sheet more securely and the greaterthe force the more tightly the cams grip the sheet. On the other hand, aforce exerted in the opposite direction necessarily forces the cammembers apart, thus allowing the free movement of the line in thedirection of such opposite force.

The principle disclosed in the Piver patent is common to all known jamcleats; i.e., a force on the sheet in one direction causes the cleat tofurther grip and stay movement of the sheet in the direction of suchforce, whereas a force in the opposite direction causes the cleat's gripto relax thereby allowing movement of the sheet in the direction of suchopposite force. Further inherent in the nature of most jam cleatsdesigned with a load capacity substantially less than 100 pounds is theability to move a sheet or line laterally into and out of the passagedefined between the pair of cleat members; this ability is aparticularly desirable feature of jam cleats since they must be loadedand unloaded rapidly under conditions in which line threading operationsare not possible or desirable.

Existing jam cleats designed with a load capacity in excess of 100pounds, whether of the cam-type as disclosed in the Piver patent, or ofother conventional configurations, do not provide an effective lineunloading or releasing capability. More specifically, the greater theload capacity of the cleat, the harder it is to unload a line and, inaddition, to trim the line when in the cleat. This is so since theline-engaging members, e.g., the pair of cams in the Piver patent, arepivotable in only one plane, i.e., in a plane parallel to the cleatsupport base. Thus, if a line having a force in excess of 100 pounds isreceived within the Piver jam cleat, the strong gripping characteristicsof the cam members in a plane parallel to the cleat support base makeremoval of the line extremely difficult. This is so since the line mustbe first pulled in a direction opposite to the direction of load thereonso as to pivot the cam members out of engagement with the line therebyfreeing its movement in a plane normal to the cleat support base so itmay be unloaded or trimmed.

It is desirable to provide a jam cleat having a load capacity in excessof 100 pounds which enables the essentially free removability and/ortrimming of a line engaged within the cleat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The line removal capability of the cleataccording to the present invention is essentially independent of theload on the line. In accordance with the present invention, a lineengaged within a cleat can be removed or trimmed merely by moving theline upwardly in a plane normal to the plane of the support base withouthaving to first overcome the load force to disen gage the line fromline-engaging member. This is made possible since the line-engagingmember is pivotal not only in a plane parallel to the support base, asis characteristic in jam cleats of the past, but also in a base.

Generally speaking, the invention comprises a jam cleat having a baseadapted to be secured to a desired support surface. The base has anupper surface and a side wall substantially perpendicular to the uppersurface. A line-engaging member is mounted adjacent the base side walland is pivotable in a first plane parallel to the base upper surface aswell as in a second plane normal to the first plane. The relationship issuch that as the axial load on a line loaded into the cleat is varied,the line-engaging member is correspondingly pivoted in the first planeto wedge the line between the line-engaging member and the side wall,whereas the line-engaging member is pivoted in the second plane when theline is removed from the cleat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING These and other aspects and advantagesof the present invention are more clearly described with reference tothe accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional plan view of a jam cleat according to thepresent invention taken along lines l-l in FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional elevation view of the jam cleat taken alonglines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 with a line under loadengaged within the cleat;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional elevation view of the cleat andline of FIG. 3 taken along lines 4-4; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to that of FIG. 4 showing the existingcondition during removal of the line from the cleat.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A jam cleat 10 in accordancewith the present invention is shown in FIGS. l-5. The cleat is formed bytwo major parts: (I) a base 12 including an essentially planar uppersurface 14 and a side wall 16 perpendicular with the upper surface; and(2) a line-engaging member 26 mounted adjacent base side wall 16 in amanner more fully described below. The cleat also includes a blockmember 18 having a lower surface 20, a side wall 22 extending upwardlyfrom lower surface 20 and normal thereto, and a flange 24 extendinglaterally from the upper extent of side wall 22 toward but not to wall16 of base 12.

More specifically, base 12 is adapted to be secured to a desired supportsurface (not shown) to which base upper surface 14 preferably isparallel. In this regard, a plurality of countersunk screw-receivingapertures 13 are defined through the base for receipt of screws (notshown); the countersink of apertures 13 assures that the heads of anyscrews engaged in the apertures are disposed below surface 14 in use ofthe cleat. Upper surface 14 of base 12 is serrated opposite from wall 16to define a plurality of parallel teeth 28 parallel to wall 16. Teeth 28are designed to mate with a corresponding plurality of spaced teeth 30defined along the entire transverse extent of block lower surface 20.The width of the serrated area of base 12 is greater than the width ofsurface 20. Thus, block 18 may be fixed in any one of a number ofpositions on base plate upper surface 14 so as to control the distancebetween an outer end 32 of flange 24 and a surface 34 of base plate sidewall I6 which faces teeth 28.

plane normal to the support In order to provide a means for fixing theposition of block 18 along base plate upper surface 14, a circularaperture 36 is formed through the side wall of block 18 and is adaptedto receive the shank of a bolt 38. A head 39 of bolt 38 is movablycaptive to base 12 in an elongate recess 42 formed in the underside ofbase 12 below teeth 28 in alignment with a bolt slot 40 through the baseto recess 42; slot 40 is aligned normal to base wall surface 34. Asblock 18 is moved relative to the base plate toward and away from wallsurface 34, the bolt head 39 moves in recess 42, whereas the bolt shankmoves in slot 40. The threaded end 46 of bolt 38 receives a tighteningnut 48 above block member 18. When nut 48 is tightened against an uppersurface 21 of block 18, the block is restrained from movement relativeto base plate 12 by the mating of teeth 28 and 30.

As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, line-engaging member 26 includes aflexible hinge member 50, an elastomeric material, preferably asynthetic elastomeric material, such as sheet polyurethane, and having asubstantial portion thereof fixed within side wall 22 of block 18 and anend 52 extending into a passage 54 (open along its top between flangeend 32 and base wall surface 34) defined between side wall 22 of block18 and side wall 16 of base plate 12. When hinge member 50-is notdeflected against side wall 16 by its inherent resilience, it lies in aplane normal to base surface 14 and oblique to wall surface 34, as shownin FIG. 1. When its end 52 is subjected to a load applied parallel tobase wall surface 34, the resilient hinge member deflects at thelocation where it enters block member 18 below flange 24.

A non-resilient, rigid coupling plate 56 is fixed (as by rivets) to aside surface 58 of flexible hinge member 50 below flange 24 entirelyoutside block 18. The distance between outer end 52 of hinge member 50and an inner end 60 of plate 56 is such that end 52 may be flexedcounterclockwise (as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 3) to a limit defined by sidewall 22 and by the resiliency of plate 50; the hinge plate may be flexedclockwise only to a limit defined by end 60 of plate 56 abutting sidewall 22 as shown in FIG. 3. As noted, hinge member 50 is normallydisposed at an angle relative to a line normal to side wall 16, suchangle being substantially less than 90. Preferably the angle is about 30to 40.

A toothed line contacting member 62 is mounted to an outer end 64 ofcoupling plate 56 and has a plurality of friction-generatingline-gripping teeth 66 positioned thereon adjacent side wall 16 of base12. The teeth are configured to bite into a line 63 engaged withinpassage 54 between member 26 and side wall 16 when a force F is exertedon the line in a direction moving hinge member 50 toward its clockwiselimit, i.e., normal to side wall 16 as shown in FIG. 3. Preferably,block 18 is positioned on base 12, in cooperation with the diameterofline 63, so that the line wedges securely against base wall surface 34before hinge member 50 flexes to its full clockwise limit shown in FIG.3 for the purposes of illustration. The line, however, can be freelymoved in the opposite direction in the cleat since teeth 66 areconfigured to allow the line to ride along them in such direction.

An important feature of the present invention is the ability toefficiently remove a line under load from within cleat 10, i.e., fromwedged engagement between toothed member 62 and wall surface 34, withouthaving to first overcome the load on the line before lifting the lineout of passage 54 through its open upper extent. Stated another way,line releasing is essentially independent of the line load. Thisphenomenon is made possible by having toothed member pivotally mountedon coupling plate 56 at end 64 thereof adjacent base wall surface 34.Thus, a pivot pin 68 is engaged through member 62 and plate 56essentially adjacent plate end 64; the pin is parallel to base surface14. Member 62 is thus hingeable about the pin in a plane normal to baseplate upper surface 14. Thus, toothed member 62 is pivotable both in afirst plane parallel to base plate upper surface 14 and in a secondplane normal to the first plane.

As shown in FIG. 5, by merely pulling up on a line engaged within thecleat, the line is released since the upward force pivots member 62counterclockwise about pin 68 thereby disengaging teeth 66 fromengagement with the line. The line is releasable by pulling upwardinitially, without having to first overcome the loading force on theline which may be in excess of pounds. This is a significant advantagefor it enables line releasing essentially independently of the loadforce.

It is obvious that the pivotal feature of toothed member 62 to couplingplate 56 also facilitates the loading of a line into the cleat, as wellas the trimming of a line while in the cleat. For instance, a line maybe inserted by pushing downward into the cleat and, at the same time,twisting the line slightly in a clockwise direction. Since the line isengaged with toothed member 62, a clockwise rotation of the line causesa corresponding counterclockwise rotation of member 62, therebyincreasing the effective opening between the toothed member and wallsurface 34 (see FIG. 5), thereby allowing the line to be slipped in moreeasily. In this manner, the line does not have to be forced againstmember 62 in a direction moving hinge plate counterclockwise to increasethe insert area into passage 54 from between member 22 and side wall 16.In a like manner, the line can be slipped in and out quickly duringtrimming without the need to first overcome the load force to pivothinge plate 50 counterclockwise.

To facilitate admission of line 63 into passage 54, the upper surfacesof base 12 and block 18 are relieved, as at 70 and 71 (FIG. 5), alongthe entire length of the passage.

What has been described, therefore, is a jam cleat for holding a lineengaged therewith fast against loads applied in one of two oppositedirections. The cleat comprises a base adapted to be secured to adesired support surface and having an upper surface and a side wallperpendicular to the upper surface. A line-engaging member is mountedadjacent the base side wall and is selectively pivotable in a firstplane parallel to the support surface as well as in a second planenormal to the first plane..The relationship is such that as the axialload on a line loaded into the cleat is varied, the line-engaging memberis correspondingly pivoted in the first plane to wedge the line to thewall, whereas the line-engaging member is pivoted in the second planewhen the line is removed from the cleat.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a specificembodiment, it is to be appreciated that modifications and variationsthereof may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventionas defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A jam cleat for holding a line fast against loads applied in one oftwo opposite directions relative to the cleat compromising:

a. a base adapted to be fixedly mounted to a desired support surfacehaving an upper surface and a sidewall substantially perpendicular tothe upper surface;

b. a line engaging member mounted adjacent the base side wall andpivotable in a first plane parallel to the base upper surface forwedging a line engaged between it and the side wall against the sidewallin response to line loads against which the line is to be held andpivotable in a second plane normal to the first plane in response toupward lateral movement of the line;

c. means mounting the line engaging member for adjustable positioning ofthe line engaging member toward and away from the base side wall, saidmounting means including a block and means for fixing the block to thebase in a selected one of a plurality of parallel positions relative toand spaced from the base side wall, the line engaging member beingmounted to the block.

2. A jam cleat for holding a line fast against loads applied in one oftwo opposite directions relative to the cleat compromising:

a. a base adapted to be fixedly mounted to a desired support surfacehaving an upper surface and a side wall substantially perpendicular tothe upper surface;

b. a line engaging member mounted adjacent the base side wall andpivotable in a first plane parallel to the base upper surface forwedging a line engaged between it and the side wall against the sidewall in response to line loads against which the line is to be held andpivotable in a second plane normal to the first plane in response toupward lateral movement of the line;

c. means mounting the line engaging member for adjustable positioning ofthe line engaging member toward and away from the base side wall, andincluding a plurality of parallel teeth on the base extending parallelto the base side wall and a plurality of mating teeth on the mountingmeans.

3. A jam cleat for holding a line fast against loads applied in one oftwo opposite directions relative to the cleat comprising;

a. a base adapted to be fixedly mounted to a desired support surface andhaving an upper surface and a side wall substantially perpendicular tothe upper surface;

b. a toothed line engaging member disposed adjacent the the base sidewall; and

c. means mounting the line engaging member to the base for pivotablemovement of the line engaging member in a first plane parallel to thebase upper surface for wedging a line engaged between it and the sidewall against the side wall in response to line loads against which theline is to be held and for pivotable movement of the line engagingmember in a second plane normal to the first plane in response to upwardlateral movement of the line, the mounting means including a resilientmember coupled at one end to the base for flexing relative to the basein the first plane and to the other end of which the line engagingmember is pivotally mounted for motion in the second plane.

4. A jam cleat according to claim 3 wherein the means mounting the lineengaging member to the resilient member defines at least one limit oftravel of the line engaging member in the first plane.

5. The jam cleat of claim 3, wherein the resilient member comprises asubstantially planar piece of elastomeric material.

6. The jam cleat of claim 3, wherein the resilient member is disposed ina plane normal to the base upper surface, the resilient member extendingfrom the mounting means toward the base side wall along a line whichdiverges from normal to the base side wall toward the direction which isopposite to said one direction.

1. A jam cleat for holding a line fast against loads applied in one oftwo opposite directions relative to the cleat compromising: a. a baseadapted to be fixedly mounted to a desired support surface having anupper surface and a side wall substantially perpendicular to the uppersurface; b. a line engaging member mounted adjacent the base side walland pivotable in a first plane parallel to the base upper surface forwedging a line engaged between it and the side wall against the sidewall in response to line loads against which the line is to be held andpivotable in a second plane normal to the first plane in response toupward lateral movement of the line; c. means mounting the line engagingmember for adjustable positioning of the line engaging member toward andaway from the base side wall, said mounting means including a block andmeans for fixing the block to the base in a selected one of a pluralityof parallel positions relative to and spaced from the base side wall,the line engaging member being mounted to the block.
 2. A jam cleat forholding a line fast against loads applied in one of two oppositedirections relative to the cleat compromising: a. a base adapted to befixedly mounted to a desired support surface having an upper surface anda side wall substantially perpendicular to the upper surface; b. a lineengaging member mounted adjacent the base side wall and pivotable in afirst plane parallel to the base upper surface for wedging a lineengaged between it and the side wall against the side wall in responseto line loads against which the line is to be held and pivotable in asecond plane normal to the first plane in response to upward lateralmovement of the line; c. means mounting the line engaging member foradjustable positioning of the line engaging member toward and away fromthe base side wall, and including a plurality of parallel teeth on thebase extending parallel to the base side wall and a plurality of matingteeth on the mounting means.
 3. A jam cleat for holding a line fastagainst loads applied in one of two opposite directions relative to thecleat comprising; a. a base adapted to be fixedly mounted to a desiredsupport surface and having an upper surface and a side wallsubstantially perpendicular to the upper surface; b. a toothed lineengaging member disposed adjacent the the base side wall; and c. meansmounting the line engaging member to the base for pivotable movement ofthe line engaging member in a first plane parallel to the base uppersurface for wedging a line engaged between it and the side wall againstthe side wall in response to line loads against which the line is to beheld and for pivotable movement of the line engaging member in a secondplane normal to the first plane in response to upward lateral movementof the line, the mounting means including a resilient member coupled atone end to the base for flexing relative to the base in the first planeand to the other end of which the line engaging member is pivotallymounted for motion in the second plane.
 4. A jam cleat according toclaim 3 wherein the means mounting the line engaging member to theresilient member defines at least one limit of travel of the lineengaging member in the first plane.
 5. The jam cleat of claim 3, whereinthe resilient member comprises a substantially planar piece ofelastomeric material.
 6. The jam cleat of claim 3, wherein the resilientmember is disposed in a plane normal to the base upper surface, theresilient member extending from the mounting means toward the base sidewall along a line which diverges from normal to the base side wAlltoward the direction which is opposite to said one direction.